COVINGTON, Ky. — A program benefitting domestic violence survivors and their children took place Saturday at many Krogers statewide. First Lady Britainy Beshear and The Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence teamed up with Kroger, Food City, IGA, and Super Dollar to collect items to benefit these survivors in the annual Shop & Share event.
“What we do is try to collect items for our shelter,” Victoria Spicuzza, a crisis intervention specialist with the Ion Center for Violence Prevention, said.
She said she’s been with the shelter going on eight years now and understands leaving a bad situation means starting over for many.
“If they’re fleeing from domestic violence, sometimes they may not even get to take their purse and a lot of them are starting from the very beginning,” Spicuzza said.
That means they’ll be needing all kinds of items to get them through.
“It’s things like diapers, cleaning supplies, toiletries, canned goods, non-perishable foods,” volunteer Sarah Jaekle said.
Jaekle said she’s seen many people donate items while helping at one of the Covington Kroger locations and is touched so many are offering up items.
“It’s been really exciting to see families get involved and all the people who are willing to give of their resources,” she said.
Spicuzza said she knows many people will benefit from these items.
“It’s just very humbling to see that people are in need and that they are brave enough to come forward and explain what they need to have,” she said.
